Amid the city producing around 1,100 metric tonnes (MT) of municipal solid waste everyday and the solid waste management plant at Jamalpur processing only 300 MT, the civic body has said that the pace of processing will be increased soon to address the 800-MT gap.
Municipal corporation’s superintending engineer Sham Lal Gupta said the contractor running the plant recently invested in the latest machinery so the processing work would pick up pace soon. “They have committed to increasing the processing capacity. They have got the latest machinery. We want the contractor to plug the gap,” he said.
The legacy waste management plant in Jamalpur began functional last month. The plant is supposed to remediate 19.62 MT legacy waste in 18 months.
Gupta said that while the contract was granted in 2023, the setting up of the facility and installing a 2,000 kV power connection took time. “It was our responsibility to provide the power connection. This was done last month. The plant is processing 5,000 MT waste daily. We have asked the contractor to take it up to 10,000 MT per day. Officials are aiming to get rid of one-third of the legacy waste in a few months so that they can free up space for setting up a new integrated solid waste management system.
The MC has been trying to set up the new plant for a year now but failed to find bidders. The latest tender has been extended four times. The tender was floated on March 21 and was supposed to close on April 7, but it was extended to April 11, then to 17, and then to 23 before being extended to May 9. SE Gupta confirmed that the tender was extended as there was no bidder.
{{/usCountry}}The MC has been trying to set up the new plant for a year now but failed to find bidders. The latest tender has been extended four times. The tender was floated on March 21 and was supposed to close on April 7, but it was extended to April 11, then to 17, and then to 23 before being extended to May 9. SE Gupta confirmed that the tender was extended as there was no bidder.
{{/usCountry}}MC officials claim that the cost ( ₹1,408 crore) factor has been keeping the investors away. Long-term commitment is another issue concerning the bidder, they say.
The ambitious project, titled :Development of Integrated Solid Waste Management (Collection, Transportation, Processing & Disposal) for the Ludhiana MC through Public Private Partnership” includes door-to-door collection of municipal solid waste in a segregated manner from waste generators of the corporation, transportation of waste up to the secondary compactor transfer stations and processing and disposal facility.